So you want to be a successful Muay Thai fighter? On your journey, it’s to develop good and positive habits that reinforce everything you may have learned up until this point. Good habits are often what separate the professionals Muay Thai fighters from the amateurs Muay Thai fighters. Here are a few habits that many successful Muay Thai fighters use (and non-fighters too!).

Don’t go too hard

Rarely, Muay Thai fighters or any fighters go 100% when they are training. It’s important to learn how to reserve your energy for what. Going too hard, too soon will result in you burning out quicker than your “fighter” counterpart. Reserving and understanding your energy is a key component to maximizing the results in your training. Plus, it will allow you to focus on technique more if you aren’t worried about your power (which we’ll talk about later).

Running

Running is one of the most basic and essential pieces to becoming a successful fighter. In Thailand, running isn’t optional. It’s expected of every fighter to run miles before training. Often, fighters will run twice a day. This is a crucial part of training because it provides the cardio, endurance, and stamina needed to be a successful fighter. All professionals know this too, and incorporate running into their training regime.

Playful Sparring

In Thailand, sparring is often light and very focused on technique. Technique is king and trumps over power, because with the right technique your power will inevitably increase. Many successful fighters practice light and playful sparring often, making sure they’re countering and landing, before they use power and force. This is why technical sparring is so important to not just a professional fighter, but fighters in general. If doing proper technical and playful sparring, athletes may spar every day with out getting injured

Watching fights, fights, and more fights!

This tip is highly underrated but so important! Many professional athletes in other sports are required to do research by watching and reading playbooks, studying old footage, and speaking with past professionals. Muay Thai should be no different. There are tons of fights you can look at on YouTube. Look at channels like Lawrence Kenshin’s, who breaks down techniques used within fights by pausing the footage and explaining what just happened.

Also, don’t forget use forums to discuss tips and training advice. A great place to start is the Muay Thai Subreddit, where many professional fighters answer questions and provide tons of advice and tips.

A few other great websites include: http://www.mymuaythai.com/ http://www.muay-thai-guy.com/ http://www.nakmuaynation.com

Clinching

This is an area that many “westerners” can improve on. Often, Western gyms don’t focus too much on the clinch. This means training and being well versed in the clinch will make you a more well-rounded fighter. Take advantage of your gym’s clinching classes or anyone in your gym who has great knowledge of the clinch, especially if you want to fight professionally.

Overall, these are just a few key habits and tips you can develop and use on your way to being a successful fighter. However, even if you aren’t a fighter, these tips will help you increase your knowledge in Muay Thai and will also make you a better Muay Thai fighter all around!